Choosing a psychologist is a very important issue. And it should be taken with great seriousness. Where to look for “your” specialist, and what criteria should you rely on in this search? Let us discuss these issues in detail in our article. Higher education – You can contact a psychologist in an educational institution, a psychological center or a social service center, or now you can find a private practicing psychologist. The search method is very diverse: applying on the recommendation of friends, colleagues, relatives; search calls to centers and institutions, Internet searches on professional sites and communities,” says Svetlana Zaikova, a gestalt therapist, member of the Association of Practicing Psychologists of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. – The very first condition is that a psychologist must have a completed higher education in psychology. Pay attention to whether he has completed courses, specializations, in what direction he works (Gestalt therapist, psychodramatist, psychoanalyst, clinical or child psychologist, etc.). Trust is important. It is important to consider what problems you are choosing a specialist to solve: to help a child, your elderly mother, a friend suffering from cancer, for your married couple or to solve your personal problems. Therefore, pay attention in the psychologist’s questionnaire to the list of topics with which he works. If you don’t find your topic, and the specialist inspires your trust, call and ask about the possibility of a meeting or ask to recommend another well-versed specialist on your problem. A psychologist should inspire confidence in you through professional competence, interest in you as a client, and the organization of the professional space. Carefully read his profile on the website, reviews about him. If you choose a specialist based on the recommendation of your friends or colleagues, then clarify why they like him. During the phone call, clarify the information you are interested in about the location of the consultation, payment, time, terms of work, work experience. Try to understand how suitable this is for you. When arranging a meeting or finding out details over the phone, pay attention to how the dialogue occurs. An experienced psychologist will not allow himself to persuade you into a consultation, manipulate you, and will not give advice. How “developed” is he? I recommend paying attention to whether the psychologist has his own psychologist. The effectiveness of psychological counseling very much depends on how well-developed the specialist is, how well he understands his psychological characteristics, and, therefore, can be emotionally stable in dealing with your difficulties. Not all psychologists write this on their resumes, but you can ask. The psychologist's gender and age may also play a role. This is your individual choice. But the age, gender and competence of a specialist are not always closely interrelated. A psychologist may be 30 years old and he can work very professionally with loss, a psychologist may not have children, but he works very well with children's fears, a psychologist may be 45 years old and he is professional in working with teenagers. If you have difficulties with men, this does not mean that you need to choose a male psychologist; a female psychologist will be no less effective, because The focus of the work is your problem and how you experience it. A psychologist can meet in a psychological center (both public and private), can rent premises in any organization, or can meet in an equipped office at home. In principle, in any of these places, counseling will be effective if the room is isolated and no outsiders except you and the psychologist have access to it during the meeting. First meetingThe cost of psychological services varies. There are free services and paid ones. Analyze your financial capabilities. Remember that it takes time to achieve results, and expected changes do not always happen quickly. First meeting